Kusatsu, Shiga

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This article is about the city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. There is a town with this name in Gunma Prefecture, see Kusatsu, Gunma.

Huge lotus pond bloom in summer at Karasuma Peninsula in Kusatsu.

Kusatsu (草津市; -shi) is a city located in Shiga, Japan.

As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 117,381 and the density of 2,434.28 persons per km². The total area is 48.22 km².

The city was founded on October 15, 1954.

The city mostly comprises large new apartment blocks and many people chose to live there due to the views over lake Biwa and the ease of commmuting to work in Kyoto, Osaka or other Kansai centres. For similar reasons there are several business hotels, love hotels and hotels catering for weddings around Kusatsu.

There is a museum related to the natural history of Lake Biwa located within the city and close to a bridge over the lake.

The city is often confused with Kusatsu city in Gunma which is a famous hot-spring resort. there is even an imitation of the Gunma Kusatsu hot-spring in the local public bath house.

Although the bullet train passes through there is currently no station. Several Shiga cities are competing over the possible location of a new station.